JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas (August 8, 2014) -- The 925th and 922nd Contingency Contracting Battalions became the newest Army units during activation ceremonies Aug. 6 and Aug. 8 at Fort Drum, New York, and Fort Campbell, Kentucky, respectively.
These activations are the latest in a string of battalions standing up as part of an integration of active-duty Soldiers with Mission and Installation Contracting Command contracting offices that began in March 2013 according to Army Contracting Command officials.
Lt. Col. Wyeth Anderson, commander of the 925th CCBn, and Lt. Col. Robert McDonald, commander of 922nd CCBn, both received the colors from Col. Carol Tschida, commander of the 419th Contracting Support Brigade, symbolic of assuming command of these new units.
"What the 922nd does in support of our Army is important," McDonald said. "This unit provides the MICC with additional capability to respond anywhere, anytime, in response to any contingency."
Prior to assuming command of the 925th CCBn, Anderson served as the first director of the Regional Contracting Office-Africa. The office provides expeditionary contracting support to U.S. Army Africa and Special Operations Command Africa at Vicenza, Italy.
McDonald comes to Fort Campbell after serving as the deputy contracts director at the Defense Contract Management Agency for Southern Europe in Wiesbaden, Germany.
"It is an honor and a privilege to be selected as the first commander of the 922nd. I look forward to shaping young minds, providing quality contracting support, and preparing this unit to fit in the scheme of the MICC," McDonald said.
As commander of the 922nd CCBn, McDonald will be responsible for two contingency contracting teams: the 621st Contingency Contracting Team and 708th CCT. The battalion's mission is to provide operational contract support to the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell. These teams are also called upon to perform all contracting in a contingency environment including military and stability operations as well as natural disasters and humanitarian events.
Anderson said Fort Drum is a leader in the MICC with customer outreach, support to small business, use of emerging business applications, acquisition planning, and training of our military acquisition workforce.
"My focus is to maintain our current metrics while integrating our fully deployable battalion and contingency contracting teams with the 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) and its brigade combat teams, so we are ready to provide operational contracting support as soon as we receive the order," Anderson said.
Anderson's battalion will be responsible for the 605th and the 619th CCTs. The battalion's main mission is to support the 10th Mountain Division and other garrison units at Fort Drum.
"To be able to stand up a new battalion at a time when the Army is downsizing highlights the importance of what trained contracting professionals can provide both in garrison and while deployed," Anderson said. "I joined the Army because of a magazine article I read about the 10th Mountain Division in the late 1980s. To be allowed the opportunity to come to Fort Drum and support them now is an honor. I love this job."
Both battalion commanders report to Tschida, and it's not the first time they have worked togerther.
"Both officers are outstanding leaders, and I have served with each of them previously," Tschida said. "I have very high expectations of both, and I am thrilled to have them as battalion commanders in the 419th Contracting Support Brigade."
The 419th CSB, headquartered at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, is made up of more than 250 Soldiers and civilians assigned to three contingency contracting battalions -- the 900th CCBn at Fort Bragg, 922nd at Fort Campbell and 925th CCBn at Fort Drum.
These two battalions are attached to the MICC. The MICC is responsible for providing contracting support for the warfighter at Army commands, installations and activities located throughout the continental United States and Puerto Rico. In fiscal 2013, the command executed more than 43,000 contract actions worth more than $5.3 billion across the Army. The command has also managed more than 780,000 Government Purchase Card Program transactions this fiscal year valued at an additional $880 million.
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